The Tree of Life
by Alpaca-police
Summary: Set a year after Kion's coronation at the Tree of Life. Follows the main cast along with a couple of OC's as they go on new adventures, take on new problems, and grow up.
1. A new day

**So this is my first ever fanfiction, and i'm really not sure what i'm doing. this chapter is intentionally short as it is essentially the prologue. This fanfiction will not have a regular update pattern, so i might upload weekly at one point, then forget about it for while, write one or two chapters over a couple of months but i'm really not sure. Whatever happens though, i hope you all enjoy it.**

* * *

The sun rose over the Tree of Life, as it had so many times before. As it rose above the mountains on the regions southern border, the sky took on a beautiful reddish hue. All around the kingdom, animals were waking up and going about their business. At the foot of tree from which the kingdom took it's name, the King and Queen rose to look upon their lands.

The King was a young lion, his coat a rich gold, his mane ruby-red, not quite fully grown, but getting there. He was not particularly large, and from a distance you might think he was physically weak. But when you got close you could see the sinewy muscle pulsing beneath his fur. On his right eye was a pale, pink scar, left there by an old enemy, long-since vanquished. At the top of his head, in front of his mane, was a baby-blue mark that signified he was royalty. On his right shoulder was a mark that appeared to be a lion's face carved into the trunk of a tree. Though his mouth showed a smile, his orange-brown eyes betrayed a hint of uncertainty.

The Queen, who was standing next to him, saw the look in her mates' eye, and tried her best not to laugh. Kion had been King for over a year now and he still worried if about whether he was up to the task. To be fair to him, Rani still worried about it from time. Her chestnut brown fur covered a slim, sleek body, that was far stronger than you might think at first glance. Her chocolate-brown eyes conveyed a feeling of calm compassion, that was well reflected in her personality. Her head was marked by the same baby-blue stripe, and her shoulder also bore the mark of the Night Pride.

"Come on Kion" she said. "You've been King for over a year, you should be used to it by now".

"I know, but I still worry. It's such a responsibility, so much more than leading the Lion Guard every was".

"I understand, but there's really nothing to worry about. Every single problem that has come our way, we've been able to deal with; together."

Rani brushed up against her mate, seemingly to comfort him... but in reality to swipe his legs out from under him, sending him rolling down the hill. Rani raced after him, pinning him to the ground at the bottom of the hill. Kion laughed and licked her face affectionately.

* * *

"Ahem".

Kion looked to see where the voice came from, and laughed when he found it's owner. The grey-blue honey badger, named Bunga, was the bravest animal Kion knew, and was his oldest friend, having been with him since he was a cub. Next to the honey badger was a large hippo, named Beshte, the strongest animal he knew, who had a habit of befriending absolutely everyone he met. Perched on top of him were two birds, one egret and one eagle. The egret was called Ono, and was the smartest animal Kion knew. The only animal who could even challenge his intelligence was the purple eagle named Anga, who, in addition to her sharp mind, had the sharpest pair of eyes known to the guard. Ono had used to be the keenest-of-sight, but since a misadventure involving the saving of a certain honey badger from the lava of a volcano, his eyesight wasn't so good. Even the healing powers of the Tree of Life had been unable to completely heal them. The last animal, a yellow-and-brown cheetah, was the fastest animal Kion knew. Despite preferring to spend most of her free time alone, Fuli was no less a friend to him than any of the others. Together they had been the Lion Guard. Now, their shoulders all bore the mark of the Night Pride, instead.

"If you wouldn't mind getting off of each other" said Bunga,"it's time for the morning patrol"

"See you later Rani" said Kion, running off to join his friends.

"Goodbye Kion" said Rani.

Once they were a good distance away, Bunga came over to Kion and ,with all the tact of a particularly tactful rhinoceros, whispered:

"Had any luck in terms of cubs?"

"Bunga!" shouted the rest of the guard, knowing Kion was nervous about the subject.

"What?"

"It's ok" laughed Kion, addressing the rest of the guard.

"So does that mean she wants them or not?" replied Bunga, genuinely confused.

This led to another outburst of laughter, this time shared by the entire guard.

"It's not a subject we talk about much" lied Kion, and left it at that.

In reality it was Kion who didn't talk about it much. Rani wanted to talk about it but Kion always changed the subject whenever it came up. Ruling the Tree of Life was hard enough, having to raise a child would be too much. And besides, sometimes it felt like only yesterday when he was still a cub, romping around the plains that surrounded Pride Rock. It had been a whole year since he had returned to the Pride Lands, and the last time he had seen his family was when Kiara had come round to see how things were going for a couple of weeks. Simba had been unable to come due to having to rule the Pride Lands, and Kovu had stayed behind to learn more about being a King. Kion smiled when he thought back to the night before she had returned. They had spent the night looking up at the stars talking, as the Great Kings of the Past looked down on them. All of a sudden he missed his family. At the Tree of Life he had been accepted, and Surak and Baliyo were good to him, but he still missed his true family. He wondered if every lion who left home felt like this, and wondered what he should do.

* * *

While the rest of the Night Pride slept, Auni stayed awake thinking. When her small family of Tsavo lions had been found by the Night Pride, she had thought it was the end. They all had. Her mother had just recently died, and she and her little brother couldn't have stood up against all four of them in the state they were in. Whenever they found somewhere to settle down, a small cave, a sheltered little alcove beside a river, or even just a small spot in a woods, they had been driven out by some other lion, who claimed that all the land the region was theirs, and that anyone encroaching on their territory was just asking for death. This was particularly true when it came to fellow Tsavo lions. They could be incredibly territorial and aggressive, not least of all to other Tsavos, and the very presence of another male was often enough to send them into a violent frenzy. As they had moved away from their home, the species of lions they had encountered had changed, first to Asiatic lions, then later to Barbery lions. It had been the same with them. When they had encountered Mbaya, that had nearly been it. Her mother had been able to save them, by holding off the lion, but it had cost her her life. And Auni and Azizi hadn't escaped unharmed. She would always have a scar on her leg where Mbaya had torn her flesh open. But now she and Azizi were safe, and that was all that mattered.

As Auni drifted off to sleep, Surak remained awake.

"Poor girl" he muttered.

She had been chosen to fill the void in the Night Pride left by Rani, when she had gone to be Queen, and so far she was doing a great job of it. Even though she was still a young teenager, she was just as fierce as Baliyo, and her brother was just like her, though he was still a cub. Speaking of Baliyo, though he might not admit it, he had taken to her straight away. They were constantly arguing about who was braver, or who was fiercer, or who was smarter, and it always ended with a small scuffle, which Auni somehow always seemed to win, despite Baliyo being stronger and more experienced.

_"Who'd have thought Baliyo would be a charmer"_, wondered Surak, smiling as he shifted his body to get under the shade a little more. She had adapted well to their sleep-in-the-day and wake-at-night schedule, and she'd only been here two weeks.

"Best get some sleep" he told himself, and he did.

* * *

**So yeah, not a lot happened, but that will hopefully change in the next few chapters. I know that a lot of fanfictions start off with plot-stuff but that didn't feel right here. Be sure to leave reviews telling me what i did wrong, what i did right and, most of all, how i can make the story better.**


	2. A new foe

**Sorry about the lack of any real focus in the last one. I should have put the first paragraph in the last one, as it would've left the chapter on a cliffhanger, and added a bit more story to it. Hopefully you'll find this one to be more plot and action heavy.**

* * *

Unbeknownst to the Night Pride, less than two miles from where they slept, the lion named Mbaya waited, planning his next move. His tan fur and dark brown mane were dirty and unkempt, still bloody from his latest kill, a small antelope on it's way to the Tree of Life with it's herd. He licked his lips. It still hurt where that lion cub had clawed his chin open, when she escaped from him, and there would probably be a scar there until the day he died. It wouldn't be his first, he had one where his left ear used to be: it was a huge bite mark from a long dead foe, and another huge slice, arcing across his forehead, was the result of a poorly avoided slash. There were numerous other scars covering his body, and he had killed every lion who marked him. It had taken him no time at all to track the lions down, but just before he planned to strike, the Night Pride intervened. He knew that he was not strong enough to take down all five of those lions at once, so he let them go. But he would never truly let that lioness get away, not in the long run, because he never ever gave up, no matter the odds. And somehow he always won, in the end. He laughed and licked his lips, imagining the taste of that lioness' blood, knowing that soon, he wouldn't have to imagine it. He had just formulated a plan.

* * *

Kion was continuing his patrol with the guard when he heard a noise, over by the southern border.

"Hold up" he said,"think I hear something".

This suspicion was confirmed when, not a moment later, Ullu, the Night Pride's scout owl, appeared.

"There's something going on at the passage in the hills, i think the buffalo are stampeding" she said,"looks like nothing out of the ordinary".

"Ok thanks Ullu" replied Kion, thinking it was just some buffalo stampeding over a missunderstanding, or a minor issue. There hadn't been poachers at the Tree of Life since Makucha and his group had been roared to Great-Kings-only-knew-where.

"Sounds like just another routine stampede," said Kion. "keep your guard up though, just in case."

It turned out however, that this was no routine stampede after all. The noise that Kion had heard in the distance was getting louder now, and as they got nearer, it got more and more recognisable, it was the cry of a dying buffalo. They smelt it before they saw it. Even Bunga had to cover his nose, the stench was so bad. When they gor closer though, they all wished they hadn't. At first, all that could be seen was a single buffalo carcass, lying out in the sun. But as the clouds shifted, letting the sun shine down on the ground bellow, it became clear that it was not just one. The herd had been quite large, about 50 strong, but now over half of them lay dead or dying.

"Hevi kabisa!" moaned Kion, a look of horror and digusted awe plastered across his face. "Who would do such a thing?".

"Whoever it was, they certainly weren't hungry" noted Ono, "the carcasses are mainly intact".

What he said was true, the rest of the guard realised. Whoever this was must've killed for sport. As they got closer, the surving buffalo broke out into a terrified frenzy.

"Woah, calm down" said Kion, which had the adverse affect.

It took many minutes to calm the buffalo down, and many still regarded Kion with terriefied expressions. It seemed the attacker had done everything in his power to maximise casualties. He had gone for the belly and neck, leaving the wounded animals to bleed out, moving on to his next target. Even Bunga seemed depressed.

"Who did this!" demanded Kion, who by this point was absoloutely enraged. The only time the guard had seen him anywhere near this angry was when he had still been under the influence of Ushari's venom, and that had been a sight to behold. This was even worse. After a few moments of worried looks and terrified whispers, one of the buffalo spoke up.

"It was a lion, covered in scars, across his chin, his head, his ears, everywhere. He just appeared out of nowhere". The buffalo's expression went from fear to rage in a flash. "Where were you, huh? Where were you when this happened!?". The buffalo's eyes bored into Kion's soul, filled with accusatory hate.

"I'm so sorry" said Kion, looking away in shame. "Guys, that lion sounded like the one who attacked Auni and Azizi".

"Hapana, you're right!" gasped Ono.

"But why?" wondered Fuli, "he got them off of his territory, why come here?"

"Maybe he wants to kill the cubs as well" said Anga in her, not unsympathetic, but still incredibly matter-of-fact voice.

"Hevi kabisa, you could be right" said Kion, "but where is he?"

Unbeknownst to the guard, upon their arrival at the passage where the massacred herd lay, a Mbaya snuck right past them, using the hidden path through the mountains.

* * *

Baliyo stood watching little Azizi play with with Feliks, Polina and Pasha, Varya's little tiger cubs. Azizi was a friendly little lion, trusting and hopeful, yet fierce when he wanted to. When the Night Pride had found him and his siter, he had trusted them right away, though his sister had taken a little longer. Speaking of Auni, Baliyo had spent most of the last week with her, showing her around the Tree of Life, playing with her, letting her win, and, of course defending the Tree of Life. He didn't know quite why, but he really liked her. He thought maybe it was because of how similar she was to Rani. Baliyo had not seen much of his siter over the last year, and he missed spending time with her. He understood that she had to rule over the Tree of Life, and also that she spent a lot of time with Kion, but he still missed her.

"Baliyo?"

"Huh? Oh sorry Varya, just thinking"

The tigress looked at him curiously before continuing.

"I have to go back home now, with my cubs. I hope Azizi won't mind."

"Oh no, it's ok. He'll find something else to do". The ligress smiled her thanks, walking back to her home with her three little cubs trailing behind. Upon turning back towards Azizi, something caught his eye, a lone lion stalking across the plains to the Night Pride den. Signalling to Azizi to get down, he watched the lion make his way towards the den.

"Who is this? There haven't been any new lions joining us for quite a while"

Azizi took a quick look at the lion, and cried out in fear and rage,"That's the lion who killed my mum!".

Upon hearing this outburst, Mbaya's head snapped round, his sharp red eyes catching sight of Baliyo immediatly.

"Lada'i" roared Baliyo pouncing at the lion. The lion moved faster than Baliyo would've imagined, first jumping out of the way, and then jumping at him right as he hit the ground. This resulted in Baliyo being launched through the air, with the wind knocked out of him. He stood up trying to breathe, but having trouble. As Mbaya moved forward to deal the killing blow, he saw three more lions walk out of the den where they had been sleeping. One of them was the brat who'd given him that scar across his jaw. Baliyo didn't waste a second. He took one big breath in before leaping forward, knocking the other lion to the ground, with Baliyo on top. But before they even stopped moving, Mbaya kicked out, launching Baliyo into the grass field behind him. Surak and Nirmala quickly realised what had happened, and were taking defensive postions in front of Auni.

"You" came an enraged roar, fueled by pure, unbridled, raging hatred. Mbaya looked to see the lion from the pass standing on the hill from which Baliyo had been watching Azizi. Kion prepared to use the roar of the elders, with the storm clouds forming behind him, but Mbaya was just too fast, and knocked him down before he could use it's power. Mbaya realised this lion was the real threat, and that this thing he did with the clouds was not to be allowed to unleashed, whatever it was. He kept Kion moving backwards with a series of incredibly aggressive and powerful slashes, one of which caught Kion on the temple, knocking him back on to his side.

Mbaya laughed "looks like this is the end for you, cub".

"Huweyzi"

Mbaya was knocked down by Fuli running full speed at his back legs and knocking them out from under him.

"Zuka zama"

Bunga leaped forwards bareeling into Mbaya's front legs, causing him to fall flat on his belly.

"Twende kiboko!"

Mbaya tried to jump out of the way of Beshte's charge, but his legs weren't ready, and Beshte caught him full in the side, sending him flying into a tree. Dazed, he could only watch as the clouds grouped together once again, and this time he saw the power of the Roar of the Elders. He felt himself pushed against the tree by some invisible force, before the tree was pulled out of the ground, and they both went flying through the air, well past the mountain border of the Tree of Life.

"Thanks guys" said Kion, before going over to where Baliyo was picking himself up in the grass,"Are you ok?" Kion asked him.

"I'll be fine, thanks to you" said Baliyo, looking at where the roar had uprooted the tree,"First time you've used the roar in awhile?"

"Yeah, it's the first time i've had to since Makucha's lot"

"Lets just hope that's the last we see of him".

* * *

Rani had been mediating a land dispute between 2 floats of crocadiles when Kion appeared. The crocadiles had previously agreed that Djimon's float would hold their ancestral home of Lake Pratimba, while Akida's smaller float would hold a smaller lake nearby. However, in the five years since the agreement, Akida's float had doubled in size, whil Djimon's had gotten only a little larger. Akida argued that he should be given some of Lake Pratimba, as his float was nearly the same size as Djimons. Djimon was refusing on the grounds that Lake Pratimba was his floats ancestral home. One of Djimon's lieutenants, an old crocadile named Pua, who used to rule his own float in the Pride Lands, had been pressuring Djimon to cede a third of the lake, as it was only fair. They had nearly reached an agreement when Kion arrived.

"Rani, we need you at the Tree of Life. Something terrible has happened."

"Don't worry, Rani, we can take it from here" said Pua, kindly. "Good to see you again Kion"

"You too Pua, lets go Rani"

Kion explained what had happened on the way back.

"But that's crazy" said Rani a look of horror on her face,"why would any lion go to such lengths just to kill one cub. And why did he want to kill her im the first place?"

Kion shrugged his shoulders

"Auni says it may be because she left a scar on his chin, and he seemed mad enough to let that kind of petty vengeance take over"

"So do you think he's a threat; on the same level as Makucha?"

Kion pondered for a moment.

"He seems to be alone, but he's an incredibly dangerous fighter"

As they approached the Tree of Life, Rani stopped, thinking.

"Do you think he'll come back"

"Almost certainly, he's tracked her this far"

"But then you roared him out of the kingdom, wouldn't it be smarter to just let it go?"

"Auni didn't seem to think he would"

When Rani put the question to her, Auni echoed Kion's statement.

"Well is there any way to deter him?" Rani asked hopefully.

"Hurting him only seems to keep him away for a short while, and then he just comes back"

"Well we've got to do something about him, we can't let this happen again"

"I think there's only one thing that will really get rid of him" said Auni

"Auni, there could be another way"

"I really don't think so Kion"

* * *

**So there's the second chapter. Like before please leave your advise in reviews. Tell me what went wrong and what went well. Was this a little overboard, or the oppostite way round. Would you like longer chapters. Please tell me as it make deciding these matters easier. I hope you all enjoyed.**


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